Ethereum Exchanges Prepare For the Hard Fork

The Ethereum Foundation announced on Friday a hard fork will occur when the network reaches block 2,463,000. Currently, exchanges are gearing up to allow their ETH assets to transition smoothly. Since a new block is generated every 15 seconds and the current block is 2,458,412 (at the time of publication), the hard fork will likely transpire on Tuesday, October 18, 2016.

Exchanges like Coinbase, Poloniex, and Yunbi have released statements on how they will move forward with the fork. Similar to the hard fork in July, the exchanges will suspend all ETH deposits and withdrawals before the fork. Coinbase stated they will disable deposits and withdrawals at 6 p.m. PDT on October 17, 2016. These transactions will resume once the hard fork is completed.

Coinbase warned their customers there will be delays over the next several days as the network tries to adjust itself and recharge the markets.

Customers of these exchanges will not have to do anything in particular since the ETH tokens will automatically shift to the new chain. However, those customers who wish to use their tokens on an alternative chain must remove their assets from the exchanges.

The hard fork is not only affecting ETH assets, but ETC tokens as well. Since both chains are under DoS attacks, Coinbase and Yunbi are holding off on releasing their ETC to their customers.

This is the second delay Coinbase has announced since the July 20 fork. GDAX, Coinbase’s professional trading platform, was meant to release their ETC on September 30. Without explanation, the exchange announced the coins will be released on Monday, Oct. 17 which is now being delayed due to the attacks and hard fork.

Yunbi has had issues with releasing ETC in the past. Due to a replay attack, the exchange lost more than 40,000 ETC. And with the recent DoS attacks, Yunbi’s ETC wallets are not syncing. Yunbi has suspended all ETC deposits and withdrawals until they fully upgrade their wallet, which will most likely happen after the fork.

New Hampshire native, Danielle Meegan, is a writer based in Los Angeles. She has been published in a couple of sports and entertainment magazines and newspapers throughout the years and has dabbled with multiple virtual currency exchanges to understand the 'ins and outs' of trading. Danielle has invested in over 15 different virtual currencies, including Ether.